Bill Lueders column: Is state too open to hunting with dogs?

6:49 PM,
Oct. 20, 2013

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Written by

Bill Lueders
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Patricia McConnell, an expert on animal behavior, is not against hunting and even raises lamb for food. But the University of Wisconsin-Madison zoologist and author is appalled by what she regards as blatant cruelty to animals sanctioned and abetted by the state.

"I'm sure most people don't know this goes on in Wisconsin," McConnell says. "I think most people would be horrified."

McConnell is referring to the use of dogs to hunt other animals, like bear, with often deadly consequences. Joe Bodewes, a Minocqua-based veterinarian, described the damage to dogs by bear in a recent letter to the ...